Shared book reading styles of Chinese teachers : a multiple case study from an activity theory perspective

Abstract

Teachers differ in the styles they exhibit in reading picture books with children. Research indicates that teachers’ reading styles play a crucial role in shaping the quality of children’s reading experiences and the development of their language and literacy skills. Despite their significance, our understanding of teachers’ reading styles is hindered by an under-conceptualization of this construct and a lack of in-depth qualitative studies in this regard. These research gaps figure prominently in the Chinese context. At a time when shared book reading is becoming ubiquitous not only in public kindergartens, but also in private supplementary tutoring centers, we still know little about what reading styles Chinese teachers adopt in shared book reading and whether their reading styles vary across institutional settings. This study employs activity theory as the heuristic tool to explore the reading styles of Chinese teachers in early childhood contexts. A public kindergarten and a private bookhouse in mainland China were selected as the research sites. Two teachers from each site participated in this qualitative, multiple-case study. A variety of data were collected from classroom observations, interviews, and documentation. Within-case and cross-case analyses were performed by using a mix of inductive and deductive strategies guided by the data, the research questions, the literature, and activity theory. In particular, activity systems analysis was conducted to facilitate a contextualized understanding of teachers’ reading styles. Results revealed stylistic similarities and differences at the teacher and institution level. The kindergarten teachers, Delin and Jiayi, shared more stylistic similarities than differences. They both employed a cognitively challenging, yet undramatic, teacher-centered, and management-focused reading style. In contrast, the bookhouse teachers, Cathy and Nina, displayed mostly stylistic differences. The former used a child-centered, challenging, and dramatic reading style, whilst the latter adopted a teacher-centered, management-focused, low-demand, and undramatic reading style. Across the institutions, a teacher-centered, management-focused, and undramatic reading style prevailed in the observed classrooms. Teachers’ stylistic similarities and differences were shaped by a range of personal (e.g., goals, beliefs, and knowledge), contextual (e.g., classroom factors, child characteristics, and book features), institutional (e.g., rules and training), and sociocultural factors (e.g., traditional Chinese culture and parental involvement). Activity systems analysis showed that teachers’ reading styles were constructed within multiple, nested contexts of their classrooms, institutions, and society through a dynamic interplay between personal and contextual influences. Based on the findings of this study, a PCIS model is developed to further demonstrate that as a construct, reading styles are personal, contextually situated, and culturally defined. This study represents the first attempt to understand Chinese teachers’ reading styles from an activity theory perspective. It illustrates a sociocultural outlook for interpreting the relationships among teachers’ personal characteristics, reading styles, and their sociocultural contexts. The findings shed lights on the nature of shared book reading styles in general and the features of Chinese literacy pedagogy in particular. This research serves as the basis for future studies that examine the reading styles of ECE teachers in a wider Chinese community.